At Least 42 Died in Two Days At Gorakhpur’s BRD Hospital

Two weeks after the Gorakhpur tragedy that stunned the nation, another 42 children died in the last 48 hours at the Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College.

Top officials at the hospital said seven children were suffering from Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES). The others, the official said, died of other diseases.

The news coincided with former BRD Medical College principal Dr Rajeev Mishra, and his wife Purnima Shukla arrest from Kanpur in connection with the death of over 60 children admitted between August 7 and 11, some of them allegedly due to lack of oxygen.

Mishra and Shukla — the latter is senior homeopathic medical officer at Government Homeopathic Hospital at Gola, Gorakhpur — had been suspended earlier. They were among nine people booked in the case.

In the case of deaths earlier this month, the authorities had maintained that the children had died from encephalitis and other medical reasons, and not due to a snap in oxygen supply.